A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Lachlan Foott

Dear Parents/Carers,

The end of the year is drawing near and we have one eye on 2020, but there is still plenty happening in our school. We have our P&F AGM this Wednesday, the School Education Board AGM next week, swimming for our Foundation to Year 4 students, beach programs for our senior students and carols just around the corner.

P&F AGM - Wednesday 4th December at 7.30pm

This is a very important meeting for our Parents and Friends Committee heading into 2020 and I ask all parents who are interested in joining the P&F Committee or have been actively involved in 2018/2019 to please come along. It can be said that the strength of our school culture is a result of an active parent community and I believe for continued success, we need to further develop this forum. This meeting will be held at school and the position descriptions for the vacant P&F Committee Executive team are available by viewing the PDF below.

We are looking for parent volunteers to fill roles on the P&F Exec Team, as well as Class Representatives for each class next year. We need two or more Class Reps for each class to spread the load. Class Rep’s are the connector between the P&F Committee, the school and the parents in your child’s class. It is an important role which is centred around communication, to ensure all members of the school community are kept up to date. Please send me an email if you are happy to be a Class Rep in 2020.

Enrolment Intentions for 2020

Class allocation for our school is quite simple for us moving into 2020, however for administration purposes we require families to confirm the enrolment of children at St Agnes’ for the 2020 school year. Please follow the link below to confirm your intentions.

St Agnes' School - Enrolment Intentions 2020 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemk1zNSF31sJCYT3lDh5NPEicUIbcfEibaMC4JRjrAN0tdGw/viewform

School Camp Program - 2020

I must say I was very surprised to learn last week that traditionally there has not been a school camp for Year 3 or Year 4 at St Agnes’. School camps are extremely important for a number of reasons; the development of relationships, independence and resilience in children.

Sleeping in dorm rooms, participating in group activities and sitting on a bus chatting to friends are valuable opportunities for students to strengthen relationships. School camps are also opportunities for teachers to strengthen relationships with students in their care. While camps are demanding on teachers physically and mentally, teachers are often more relaxed in camp environments and get to enjoy the company of the students, on a different level. They get to have fun. The knock on effect of this is a more developed relationship between teacher and student, which strengthens learning in the classroom.

While away on camp children have to do many things that may well be done for them at home. They must make their bed, pack their bags, organise their clothing, lead Dining Room duty, roll their sleeping bag, keep their room tidy. Having to manage these tasks, which can prove difficult for some, is a great opportunity to develop independence and resilience. Resilience, the essential life skill of having the capacity to recover from difficulties, is a quality which must be actively fostered from a young age.

I am excited to announce that in 2020, there will be a school camp for Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5/6. Our Year 3 students will spend a night at Melbourne Zoo in a purpose built school camp facility called ‘Zoo Snooze’. This camp is booked for Thursday 19th November and Friday 20th November in 2020. To complement the Bike Education Program completed here at school, the Year 4 students will attend the Blue Light Youth Camp in Maldon (near Bendigo). This camp will take place from Monday 10th August to Wednesday 12th August. Most exciting of all, our Year 5/6 Camp for 2020 is going to be to a four night day camp to Canberra from Monday 10th February to Friday 14th February. The Year 5/6 Camp program will remain on a two year cycle, with Canberra Camp and Arrabri in alternating years. It is important that these camps increase in their outcomes and demands for students as they progress through the school, hence the increase in nights away. There will be fee levies associated with these camps in 2020.

St Agnes’ Christmas Carols Evening - Wednesday 11th December at 6.30pm

Next Wednesday we have the annual St Agnes’ School Christmas Carols evening, which we are certainly looking forward to. For the first half of the evening, the Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students will tell the story of the Nativity through narration and song before the Year Three to Six take over with some traditional and some fun/modern Christmas Carols. We ask that all students are at school and in classrooms by 6.15pm on the night, so we can get them organised to perform. The performance area will be the end of the basketball court, nearest the Year 5/6 classrooms. We will sit the students together in their class groups before and during the performances, with families encouraged to bring a picnic rug to sit on for the evening. If Grandparents are coming along with a deck-chair, please ask them to sit at the back to allow the rest of the audience a clear view.

End of Year & Graduation Mass - Wednesday 18th December at 6pm

This will be the final time we gather together as a school community for 2019. It will be an occasion for us to celebrate a successful finish to the school year and also to farewell our graduating Year Six class. All students from Prep to Year Six are expected to attend and wear correct full summer uniform. Again, the students will sit in their class groups, with parents sitting in the pews behind. The Year Six students and their families will move from the Church to the hall to continue the celebrations from 7.30pm.

Free furniture

The school has a number of couches and arm-chairs which are not suitable for classroom use and are available for a family to pick up for free. If there are not any takers, we will donate them to St Vincent de Paul. Please let Matt Cherry know if you would like one or more of these pieces. They will need to be picked up before the end of the school year.

End of Year Finish Times

Please note the final day for the Foundation to Year Five students is Thursday 19th December and school will finish at 1.30pm on this day. The Year Six students last day will be on Wednesday 18th December.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Lachie.

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